EAGULLS

The Louisiana, Bristol | 28 February

“Get real, douchebag.” That’s what we’d say to anyone who had the gall to tell us Eagulls were full of shit. More and more these days it feel like everyone’s got a problem with young people being young people. Bear in mind that this is probably the most exciting punk band in the UK right now and that they’ve played live on prime time US television. It’s not a huge leap, then, to say that they’re pretty much the coolest young people out there. At very least, none of them are Alex Turner.

Crack arrives fashionably late, feeling that it’s only right to drink at least two pints of cheap, dirty cider before walking to the venue. When we arrive the fantastic Leeds outfit Autobahn are just leaving the stage, which we’re gutted about because the late night efforts at Crack towers have been fuelled, in part, by their jaunty sounds over the last week or so. Check them out before it’s too late to pretend you heard them first.

When we return to the Louisiana’s suitably tiny, rammed upstairs bar most of Eagulls are already on stage but their start is delayed by some technical difficulties. We’re teased by their distinctive, hollowed out, jangle punk guitar sound but as for the actual set, it’s a late start. As a result, singer George holds back on his trademark Gallagher-esque banter for the next 20 minutes as he and his band tear through a set of punk anthems so familiar that it feels like a greatest hits… from a band who have only released one full EP to date.

Moulting sees the rammed back room thrown into a certified frenzy and new tracks Nerve Endings and Tough Luck are already being sung straight back at the band and the ridiculous amount of crowd surfing, performed at Olympic level, puts an affable grin on bassist Tom’s face. When the opening chords of Coffin ring out we find ourselves pogoing and spitting our way through to closer Possessed before rushing the exit to remember what air tastes like.

The feeling of elation walking home on a miserable, rainy night – with only the promise of kebab shop chips to look forward to – is hard to come by. After witnessing the, admittedly self-assured, Leeds fivesome’s angry, snarling, pop music it’s virtually impossible to avoid tonight. And so what if they’re cocky? Eagulls kick the living shit out of 99% of the wet, guitar pop that’s currently infecting the charts and after tonight’s show we’re convinced they’ve got everything to be cocky about.

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eagulls.co.uk/

Words: Billy Black
Photo: Graeme Bateman